//------------------------------// // Wither and Bloom // Story: It's Got To Be My Destiny // by 1Bluefur //------------------------------// “Hi I’m Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you!” Twilight found herself in an extremely crowded library. Ponies chatted excitedly all around her. Despite the very cheerful atmosphere, the unicorn had a deep unsettled feeling that something wasn’t right. “Pinkamena?” The pink mare exaggeratingly gasped and her blue eyes widening to comical size. “How did you know my full name? Well, almost full name! Full first name, my real full name is Pinkamena Diane Pie but everypony calls me Pinkie Pie!” Pinkamena had been very excitable when they first met, but this was something else entirely. Somehow the mare was twice as energetic, and even stranger, her sleek well-kept mane was now in tightly wound wild curls. “… Right, I’m going to go get some punch,” Twilight said, her mind felt detached from reality. “Is this some kind of prank?” she thought, making her way to the refreshment table. Pinkamena, or rather, Pinkie Pie, followed her excitedly babbling about how they supposedly first met. Twilight did her best not to listen; she was honestly beginning to question her own sanity. Had things been like this the whole time? She began pouring the nearest drink into her cup, thinking hard about what was going on. She came from Canterlot right? But… Why did she feel like somepony had sent her? Surely that can’t be the case? She placed a straw in her cup and rapidly started to gulp down the beverage, she’ll need to be hydrated to figure out what was happening. Wait… She managed one last swallow before her eyes began to water. It suddenly felt like lava had been poured directly into her mouth and through her body. Her whole mouth burned worse than the surface of the sun and the last the she heard before running up the nearby stairs was: “She’s so happy she’s crying!” Twilight could hear her own heartbeat when her eyes snapped open. Sweat clung to her coat, panicking as her eyes adjusted to the inky darkness. The details of her new bedroom came into clarity as well as the various scents of farmland from her cracked open window. Never in her life would she have been so happy to be at Sweet Apple Acres. Tap, tap, tap. The frazzled unicorn let out a barely audible gasp at the sudden noise. “Um… Twilight? I’m really sorry to disturb you but… I have dinner for you. Applejack said you were really tired after lunch so we figured you were napping. If it’s okay with you, I can also help you with Owlowliscious,” Fluttershy’s soft voice barely made it through the door, but there was no reassurance in her soothing tone for Twilight. The purple mare looked helplessly at her pet that was staring at her with a blank expression. Owlowliscious would normally be making a fuss at being held indoors past sundown, Twilight knew he could tell she wasn’t doing her best. “Y-yeah! I’m coming!” she responded. Her voice had very little emotion in it, something she was thankful for. She really didn’t want to give Fluttershy and more reason to feel like she should stick around. The unicorn resolved to eat dinner and pull and all nighter to get her study time in. After all, Owlowliscious would be happy to have company to come home to after his nightly hunting. If she played her cards carefully, she would go to bed right after dinner tomorrow and her sleep schedule wouldn’t be too messed up. She quickly flicked her light on and opened the door for the pale yellow pegasus. She grimaced slightly when the other mare’s blue eyes widened a little with shock. “Oh Twilight, are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?” Twilight sighed and stepped aside allowing the other pony entry. “So much for disguising that,” she mentally grumbled. Owlowliscious let out a couple excited trills; Fluttershy probably had a treat for him. “Yeah… It’s no big deal, I’m probably just a little burnt out,” Twilight resigned. Fluttershy listened as she crossed the room to place a plate of dinner on Twilight’s desk, smiling at Owlowliscious’ excited shuffling. She reached up to the owl with a quiet request to “step up” before responding. “Gosh, I’m sorry to hear Twilight. I’m actually impressed at how much you’ve been doing since you got here. I know… Well, I know how to be friendly, but I’ve never really been very good at socializing either. I usually just hang out with Rainbow Dash or the Apples,” she turned to face Twilight. In that moment Owlowliscious decided to take flight with a sudden flurry of brown wings, he landed on Twilight’s back and nibbled affectionately at her mane. A smile returned to Fluttershy’s face, which Twilight couldn’t help but mirror. “He sure does love you, I’m impressed by that too. Owl’s are extremely picky about who they trust. That’s actually how they gained their reputation for being so wise. They are also usually antisocial creatures, but Equestria’s owls seem to be open to domestication if they find somepony they feel is worthy,” Twilight nodded, feeling the slight heat of bashfulness in her coat. She already knew all of that of course, but hearing another pony say it actually made her feel kind of special. “Y-yeah, I guess I got pretty lucky. He just kinda… Came to me while I was studying in a park and never really left my side. I make sure to always let him out at night, and I have a few toys packed away still that are for enrichment if he has to stay in,” “That’s great! It seems like you really know how to care for him Twilight, but if you ever need any help or… Anything at all really, I’m happy to help!” Twilight’s smile widened ever so slightly. “Thank you Fluttershy, I appreciate it,” she barely finished her sentence when a large yawn took her by surprise. “I’ll let you eat your dinner Twilight, and maybe you can get some more rest,” “I’m not so sure about that, I have a lot of studying to catch up on… But we’ll see. Maybe I can squeeze a nap in before I meet Cheerilee at the schoolhouse,” Fluttershy seemed briefly concerned, but the expression was brief. “Well, if you need any coffee or anything during the night I know nopony would mind you getting it. The uhm… Stairs can be pretty creaky but as long as you’re not going up and down them a lot it should be fine,” “Thank you Fluttershy, I’ll talk to you later,” Some more smiles were briefly shared as the pegasus passed by, stopping only to hold a treat up to Owlowliscious which was eagerly accepted. But as soon as she had opened the door, a voice boomed out from the kitchen. “Well you were never here before were ya!? You just ran off and abandoned us and now you expect us to just… Let you back into our lives like nothin’ happened?! You don’t even know how to work on a farm anymore!” There was no mistaking Appleblooms higher pitched voice, somehow a little bit higher as she angrily yelled. “That just ain’t true! Besides, you don’t think I’m sorry for all the time I spent away from here?! Why do you think I came back?! But maybe that was a mistake, cuz I sure as hell didn’t come back just to be yelled at by my own sister for having the audacity to want to spend time with her!” Applejack’s voice matched Appleblooms in strength, though there was more power and volume behind it, Twilight wouldn’t be surprised if ponies in Ponyville proper could hear the orange mare yelling. “Go to hell Applejewel,” the younger Apple spat the last part out with a surprising amount of venom for such a small filly. There was a cacophony of voices as small angry hoofsteps rapidly made their way to the stairs. Fluttershy backed away from the door so that she was not immediately visible. Applebloom ran by, barely audible sobs drifted from her as she reached her room and slammed the door shut with surprising force. A heavy silence encapsulated the house. An eternity stretched out as nopony moved, it was so silent that Applebloom’s muffled sobs were the only sound Twilight could hear. “I… Better see if I can talk to her,” Fluttershy said half speaking to herself. “I’m… Sorry you had to see that Twilight, I promise it’s not normally like this it’s been…” “I-It’s okay, I mean… At least I was already awake,” Twilight humorlessly chuckled. Fluttershy sighed. “Good luck with your studies Twilight, see you tomorrow, bye Owlowliscious,” With that the door to her bedroom closed leaving Twilight and Owlowliscious alone. “Hoo?” “Applebloom is Applejack’s younger sister,” Twilight quietly explained. “I guess… It makes sense for there to be some conflict. I guess Applejack only just recently returned home from wherever she lives but… Why did she even leave in the first place?” The unicorn shook her head. “No, it doesn’t matter, it’s not my business. I’m already far too involved in Applejack’s personal life as is,” As the unicorn gathered her study supplies. Owlowlicious remained on her back, even though the owl would have preferred to be out hunting, he knew that his companion needed support. Twilight opened the window further as she settled into a seating position at her desk. Owlowlicious swiftly moved to his perch instead of flying off into the night. Twilight paused to look at him, “I’ll be okay, you go enjoy the night,” she reassured him. The owl let out a tiny noise of comprehension before taking off. Twilight watched his retreating form before sighing and digging into her studies. She did her best to ignore the voices in the background. Occasionally catching words like “sister”, “caring”, “unfair” and “too long”, each time the unicorn found herself tuning in, she gathered her resolve and reminded herself it wasn’t her business. Despite this, the unicorn found it difficult to not think of her own sibling. Shining Armor was her older brother and a member of the Royal Guard. They had been close during her early childhood but their relationship became troubled after her rejection from Celestia’s School. Even though her attitude had caused many arguments between them, Shining had always tried to be patient and understanding. It really wasn’t until he moved into the barracks on Castle Canterlot’s grounds that she began to realize and appreciate just how much he meant to her as family. Twilight stared at her notepad, struggling for a moment before she settled on a decision. It would be quick, just something she needed to get out of her before she started her studies. “Dear Shining Armor…” The unicorn walked along the well-trodden streets of Ponyville. She was going to do just a quick stop at the Post Office and then she would be ready to meet with Cheerilee. The magenta mare had sent a sweet pegasus pony named Thunderlane to inform Twilight that she would like to meet her at the Golden Oak’s library instead of the school house. The door to the Post Office jingled pleasantly as Twilight stepped inside. The smell of parchment and glue made the mare smile. But the sight of an all too familiar pegasus standing at the counter. “Oh hey egghead! Fancy seeing you here,” she said. Twilight sighed in annoyance “Here we go, I just gotta send my letter off and get it over with,” “I’m here to send a letter,” she said trying to make eye contact with the gray postmare behind the counter. A somewhat hard feat considering the mare’s bright yellow eyes seemed to be permanently crossed. “Well you’ve certainly come to the right place!” she chirped. Twilight felt a twinge of satisfaction as Rainbow’s expression soured with irritation, the mare definitely didn’t like being ignored. Twilight felt Rainbow’s eyes lock onto her as she strode up to the counter, her coat prickled under her gaze. She quickly levitated the letter from the depths of her bag. It probably only took about 30 seconds, but it felt like an eternity in the silence. “It’s going to P.O Box 56780 at One Celestial Avenue,” she said. “Ooohh, gosh that’s the Royal Post Office isn’t it? Can I ask who you’re writing? It’s not the Princess I assume? That’s a totally different address…” Twilight blinked in surprise. Why in Equestria would she be writing the Princess if she had a specific P.O. Box number? Shouldn’t it be obvious she knew what she was doing? Suddenly Rainbow Dash spoke up. “I think she would know that if she was writing the Princess Derpy, unless Celestia has a top secret P.O Box nopony but Twilight knows about,” Twilight could see her eyes twinkling mischievously as she spoke. The other mare blushed and her ears flattened slightly. “Oh yeah... I guess you’re right Rainbow Dash, you’re so smart!” “Well… Yeah, of course I am,” Rainbow Dash said self-assuredly. Twilight resisted rolling her eyes at the mare’s inflated ego. That’s when the postmare’s nametag caught her eye, “Ditzy Doo” it read. Was Rainbow Dash bullying this poor mare? Usually Twilight would consider it none of her business, but before she could really reflect on the situation she found herself speaking out. “Derpy? That’s an interesting nickname. Though I’m not sure if I would like being called that personally,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Ugh, new ponies always take that the wrong way,” she grumbled. Twilight made a point to try and ignore her; Ditzy’s answer mattered far more to her than anything Rainbow had to say. The gray pegasus blushed a little again and giggled. “Oh, yeah, I know it can sound a little bad, but I promise only my close friends call me that. I think it’s a little funny now actually…” Twilight raised an eyebrow, which prompted the mare to continue. “It used to feel kinda bad, I got teased a lot growing up. Especially in flight camp because I can’t really fly too straight and getting around things can be very hard. I even started to dislike my name because it had “ditzy” in it.” “So when I moved to Ponyville I decided to try a fresh start. I asked ponies to call me Muffins, because I love muffins and it sounded very cute! But... I don’t know… It just didn’t really help anything for me personally cuz sometimes the Cloudesdale ponies would recognize me and call me Derpy. Even Rainbow Dash…” “I uh… Kinda thought it was just her name heh,” Rainbow interrupted. Twilight was astonished that the mare could even bring herself to sound sheepish. “But that also gave me an idea! I told Derpy that maybe if she called herself Derpy than it wouldn’t sound so bad anymore!” The other mare smiled. “I know it sounds bizarre, but that’s what it took for me to stop feeling so hurt by the things ponies called me. Not that most of the visiting ponies meant it maliciously anymore, but it didn’t stop it from being painful. Not until I decided to take ownership of it… So… Yeah… That’s why Rainbow Dash calls me Derpy,” Twilight had no idea how to respond. The last thing she had expected was an entire novel’s worth of backstory, all she had wanted to do was make sure Ditzy Doo wasn’t being bullied. “Ponies are so complicated,” she grumbled in her head. On the exterior though, she put a polite smile on her face, “That’s great! Uh… Miss. Doo?” “Pony feathers! She has three bucking names how do I know which one to pick?” The mare giggled again. “You can call me whatever you like Twilight, the fact that you bothered to check in about the nickname shows that you’re a really nice pony. I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends here in Ponyville!” There it was again, friends, and worse yet Rainbow Dash was looking at her with a very strange expression. “Right, um, well it was nice chatting but I really must get to my appointment with Cheerilee at the library,” Twilight said glancing at the clock on the wall. She was still a half hour early, but they didn’t have to know that. “Oh right, you actually like, care about your job and stuff,” Rainbow said. Twilight did her best to quell the anger threatening to flood her body. “You already knew she was a slacker, you shouldn’t let it surprise you,” she told herself. “Hey listen, if you’re not busy after, I might be dropping by the library for uh… Weather stuff. But I’m kinda terrible at like, actually getting the right books, can you help?” “Isn’t that what the librarian is for?” Twilight asked. “Heh, yeah… She doesn’t exactly like me. But it’s sorta important for my job, please?” Twilight would have loved to say no. But she also knew it would start an argument, and she really didn’t want to deal with that in the moment. “Look I’m not sure how long I’ll be at the library, but I gotta get going now, so… We’ll see,” “Nice! See you there egghead!” Rainbow Dash responded, completely oblivious to Twilight’s small frown. “Bye Twilight, I hope to see you around town!” Derpy said with a wave as the unicorn trotted out. But just when she thought she had escaped she heard Rainbow Dash’s voice. “Wait up!” She barely had time to turn around when she was almost muzzle to muzzle with the speedy pegasus. “What time are ya off?” “I don’t know Rainbow… Maybe… A couple hours?” “Holy… Wow, that’s a long time, you’re a trooper,” “I actually enjoy working,” Twilight responded dryly. “Right… Okay, well, see you later, ya know, just to get those books!” with that she was zipping off into the blue yonder. Twilight felt so conflicted she might explode on the spot. Didn’t Rainbow say she disliked her? Why did she suddenly want her help so badly? Was it a setup for a prank? Did she want to corner her so she could bully her? “It doesn’t make any sense!” Twilight thought to herself. “None of these ponies make any sense! It’s always something or another going on, does anypony value peace anymore?” Regardless of her frustrations, the unicorn continued on her way to the library. At least she had a half hour to explore it and cool down. She had no was of understanding what was going on in Rainbow Dash’s head, but at that moment, she had better things to worry about. Yet something nagged her in the back of her mind. “Maybe there’s more to Rainbow Dash than meets the eye.”